Justice Department Awards Nearly $5 Million for Equipment, Public Safety Officers

WASHINGTON – The Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) has awarded nearly $5 million in grant funding to Alaska as part of a previously-announced commitment by Attorney General William P. Barr to provide emergency funding to address the public safety crisis in the state’s more rural communities, including Alaska Native villages.

Funds were awarded to tribal agencies in Alaska through the COPS Office Tribal Resources Grant Program (TRGP) to help meet the state’s immediate law enforcement needs in Alaska Native villages. Those needs include the hiring, equipping, and training of Village Public Safety Officers (VPSOs), Village Police Officers (VPOs), and Tribal Police Officers (TPOs) working in rural Alaska.

“The COPS Office is proud to help support the Attorney General’s goal of addressing the most serious law enforcement challenges facing tribes in Alaska,” said COPS Office Director Phil Keith. “These awards will greatly increase the capacity of Alaska’s tribal law enforcement agencies to prevent and reduce crime, engage in anti-methamphetamine and anti-opioid activities, and address human trafficking.”

The awards are as follows:

Read about additional Justice Department resources to be made available to Alaska, as announced by the Attorney General last month, online at https://go.usa.gov/xyvHA. A list of awardees and information about TRGP (administered via the Department’s Coordinated Tribal Assistance Solicitation) is located on the COPS Office website.

The COPS Office awards grants to hire community policing officers, develop and test innovative policing strategies, and provide training and technical assistance to community members, local government leaders, and all levels of law enforcement. Since 1994, the COPS Office has invested more than $14 billion to help advance community policing.